Study: Mobile payment grows in popularity with unexpected leaders

CHICAGO — Mobile payment is impressively rising in consumer adoption and interest, but Apple Pay is not their first or even second choice.

 

According to a 2015 survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adult consumers by location-based mobile platform provider Retale, 43% of respondents have previously used a mobile device, such as smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch, to make a purchase in a brick-and-mortar retail store. This is a 7% increase year-over-year compared to the 36% who reported they had used mobile payment in Retale’s 2014 study.

 

Indicating similar growth, when asked if they would be interested in using a mobile device to pay for a gift or other item in a retail store during the holiday shopping season, 61% of shoppers polled this year said that they would, a 9% increase from 56% in 2014.

 

However, when asked to identify the mobile payment service they would most likely use in-store, half (50%) mentioned PayPal. “Your bank’s mobile payment app” was the runner-up, with 27%, followed by Apple Pay, at 20%. In 2014, the top-three ranking was identical. Android Pay (17%) and a retailer’s app (13%) round out the top-five this year.

 

When asked if retailers should offer some kind of mobile payment option in-store at checkout, 63% say in 2015 that they should. This is 10% more than the 57% who thought in-store mobile payment should be offered in 2014.

 

 In addition, 83% of shoppers this year felt that mobile payments were “convenient,” while 17% called them “inconvenient.” In 2014, only 76% of respondents described mobile payments as “convenient,” with 24% saying they were “inconvenient.”

 

Year-over-year, the top-two greatest concerns to respondents about in-store mobile payment remained the same, with “data breaches and privacy” (59%) and “possible theft or loss of mobile device” (55%).

 

When asked what they were most likely to purchase with on-site mobile payment during the holiday season, the top-three selections were: clothing (44%); food (41%); and gift cards (30%).